//------------------------------//
// Chapter 27: Current State, a Vigil, and the Long Night 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
//------------------------------//

Once James had managed to get a hold of himself again, he looked back up at Starlight. 

"Please", he whispered, "Tell me this isn't true. He can't be blind!" 

"I'm sorry, Mr. James", she replied, "I'm so, so sorry." 

James sighed, and then looked up at her again. "I still need to see him. Where is he?" 

Starlight pointed to a room down the hall. "He's over here." She started walking. 

The hallway was very quiet as they walked. The only real sounds came from the buzzing of the overhead lights, as well as the sounds of a mare crying. 

"Huh?" James wondered, "Who's crying?" 

He looked down the hall, and sure enough, there, seated on a bench just outside of Room 214, was Redheart. She did not look in very good shape. Her mane was somewhat frazzled, and she had her face buried in her hooves. There was even a small puddle on the tiled floor below her from where she had been crying. 

Starlight went up to her. "Um, Redheart?" She placed her hoof gently on her friend's shoulder, "Are, um, are you doing ok?" 

Redheart paused to look up at Starlight. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, Redheart got up from the bench, and went back down the hallway leaving the Trauma Ward, still crying all the way.

"Yeesh", James muttered to himself, "I knew that women could be emotional about things, but this really takes the cake. I certainly hope that she'll be alright." She was already out of the Trauma ward, so James was unable to follow her. Instead, he turned and looked up at the door of Room 214. "Is, is this his room?" 

Starlight nodded. "Yes, he is in there." She then knocked softly on the door. 

"Who is it?" Came a whisper from inside.

"Um, it's Nurse Starlight. I've brought Mr. Taylor's comrade, Mr. James. He has requested to see him." 

The door opened a bit, and a nurse with tan fur, a black mane, and a lot of freckles stuck her head out. She looked first at Starlight, and then at James. Then she sighed. "Technically, I'm one of the only ones allowed in here, aside from Dr. Stables, and a select few others, but since you were able to get past Nurse Cotton, I guess that I can let you in." 

She then opened the door just enough, and James and Starlight walked inside. As he passed the nurse, James saw that her name-tag said "Freckles". 

"Hmm" James thought to himself. Is that her real name, or just a nickname?" He wasn't sure, but he knew that now was not the time to ask. He then steeled himself up as best he could, and began to survey the room. 

The whole room was slightly larger than a standard hospital room, and it was rather dark inside. In fact, aside from a small lamp in the corner, the only other source of light came from the health monitors. It was also then that James saw his old comrade, or rather, what was left of him. 

"Oh gosh!" He put his hands over his mouth, and turned away for a moment, trying to keep from breaking down crying again. 

Taylor was lying on two mattresses that had been put on top of a long table. His head was lying on a pillow, and he was covered in blankets. What had James so disturbed though, was Taylor's appearance. All he could see was white bandages. almost Taylor's whole head was covered in them. A few tufts of hair poked out here and there, but aside from an oxygen mask around his mouth, and some black gauze covering his eyes, it was all gauze and bandages. 

It was little better elsewhere. One of Taylor's arms was exposed, but the other arm was covered by a cast, as well as bandages. His exposed arm was also connected to IV bags, and health monitors. James could also see that Taylor was wearing a hospital gown, but he couldn't see more, as the rest of Taylor was covered by the blankets. 

"He, looks like a mummy", James said quietly, tears forming in his eyes. 

"Yes, it's not good", Nurse Freckles whispered, "But from his waist down, he's fine." 

"And how's his condition?"  

"Well, he's stable, at least for now, but, as I'm sure that you heard, as of right now at least, he cannot see." 

"Yes, I heard, and that's the worst part of all. But, is his blindness permanent, or is there hope for him?" 

Nurse Freckles shrugged. "To be perfectly honest Mr. James, I have no idea. From what the surgeon who removed his goggles said, it is possible that Mr. Taylor's blindness could be due to an extreme case of flash-burn. However, until an optometrist is able to examine him, it's anypony's guess." 

"And when will that be?" 

"We managed to summon one from Canterlot, but we're also going to get a second opinion from a doctor from Manehattan. It could be another two days." 

Nurse Starlight then excused herself to go back to her duty station, although she told James to summon her when he was done so that she could escort him back to his room. James agreed, and then he turned his attention to Taylor. After pulling up a stool, he sat down on it, and scooted as close to Taylor's bed as he could. The only sounds in the room came from the hissing of the oxygen mask, as well as the beeping of the health monitors. 

"Um, T-Taylor?" James whispered, taking hold of Taylor's exposed hand gently. "C-can you hear me? Um, w-well, since you are in a coma, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm here. I'm right here beside you. You're badly broken, but the doctor's and nurses put you back together as best they could." 

James could never be sure, but when he told Taylor this, Taylor almost appeared to sigh a bit. 

"I'm going to stay here with you, Taylor. You were there for me when I was in the hospital, so now I'm going to do the same for you. All we have is each other. Lt. Charles Taylor, and Ensign William James; we're the only survivors of Flight 19. I'm not going to leave your side." 

All while James was talking to Taylor, Nurse Freckles watched him curiously. In all of her time as a nurse at the hospital, she had never seen devotion like this from a comrade. "Is this what war is like?" She asked herself. "A wounded comrade, tended to by another?" Out loud, she asked. "So, um, Mr. James, um, how long have you known Mr. Taylor?" 

James looked at her. "For about 4 years now. I was pulled from the front-lines during the War in the Pacific in 44' due to 'shell-shock'. I was reassigned to Blue Squadron, where I remained until the war ended. Taylor was the officer in charge of Blue Squadron, and all of us loved him. He was the best pilot that any of us had ever seen. Then, on December 5th, 1945, all of us were sent on a new mission, a run that would take us close to a region known as 'The Bermuda Triangle'......" James then told her the rest of the story. 

All while he was talking, Freckles stared at him in shock. Equestria had never seen a war in almost 1,000 years. She couldn't even imagine the horrors that James had been through in the Pacific War. However, she could appreciate the comradely that James shared with Taylor. "Soldiers are close to one another, I know that from having a brother in the Royal Guards. But you Mr. James, and your loyalty to Mr. Taylor, is something that I've never seen before." 

James nodded. "We're naval aviators Miss Freckles. Like soldiers, it's all about loyalty." 





The next number of hours were all a blur for James. All throughout this ordeal, he never left Taylor's side, except to use the restroom. He was constantly watching both the health monitors, as well as Taylor himself; watching, and waiting, for some sign of Taylor waking up from his coma. But still, there was nothing. Nothing but the beeping of the machines, and the hissing of the oxygen tanks.



 

The whole ordeal also made front page news all across Equestria. "Human Pilot in Coma!" "Terrible Tragedy in Ponyville!" "Workshop Explosion Claims Nine Victims. Lt. Taylor Among the Wounded!" Many conducted silent vigils outside of the hospital, waiting for any news of Taylor and the other wounded. 





During this time, Princess Celestia herself came to visit the hospital, accompanied by Tinker, and several other guards. She was greatly distressed by the accident at the workshop, and offered to pay the full cost of treatment for not only Taylor, but for the other engineers as well. 

"Has Mr. Taylor shown any signs of waking up yet?" Celestia asked James when she was able.

James shook his head. "I'm afraid not Princess. I've been here since 1:45am last night, and still nothing." 

Celestia said a silent prayer for Taylor, before leaving to discuss something with a doctor. By this point, things were not looking good for James. His eyes were extremely bloodshot, and had dark circles under them. Nurse Freckles tried to convince him to sleep, but James refused. 

"I have to stay here!" He insisted. "Taylor still needs me!" 

However, Nurse Freckles decided that enough was enough, so when James wasn't looking, she quietly slipped a dose of sleeping medicine into the glass of water that he was drinking from, putting him to sleep for the time being. 

"Sleep now, Mr. James", she whispered to him as his head fell onto the bed in front of him. "Mr. Taylor will still be there when you wake up." She then went back to her duties tending to Taylor.

Due to the nature of James over-exerting himself while still injured, another 14 hours would pass before he woke up again.



 

When James did wake up again, he felt something odd. "Hmm? What's that?" He felt something brush against his head. He raised his head off of his bed, and looked over at Nurse Freckles. She was sitting in a chair in the corner, and appeared to be sleeping. "Well then what woke me up?" 

As James was contemplating this, he felt something brush up against his head again. "What the....?" He turned his head towards the source of what kept brushing up against his head, and froze in absolute shock.

"W-wh-wha.....?" 

The hand, it was Taylor's hand! His hand kept moving up and down gently, and the fingers were moving ever so slightly. James pinched himself, just to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. When he saw that he wasn't he wasn't he quickly looked over to Nurse Freckles. 

"Nurse Freckles?" He whispered urgently, "Nurse Freckles!" 

At first, she didn't do anything. Finally though, she opened one eye. "Ugh, what is it Mr. James? It's almost 4:00 in the morning." 

"It's Mr. Taylor! I think that he's waking up!" 

Nurse Freckles put a hoof over her face. "Mr. James, you've been saying that for nearly 3 days now. You're so tired that you're delusional. Mr. Taylor is not waking up." 

James then got up off of the bed fully. "Are you so sure about that Nurse Freckles?" 

"Ugh, yes, I'm POSITIVE. There's absolutely no way that....." She then stopped, and froze. Sure enough, she saw Taylor's hand, and it was moving! She could see both of James's hands in his lap, and she knew that he couldn't use magic. "WHAT?!?!" She then got up, and came over to check Taylor's health monitors. When she saw what they read, she immediately got on the intercom. 

"Cotton! Nurse Cotton!" 

After a few moments, a reply came. "Ugh, what is it Freckles? And no, if you want another cup of tea, there isn't any on hoof right now." 

"No, it's not that, it's about Mr. Taylor!" 

Cotton's tone changed. "What do you mean? What about Mr. Taylor?" 

"Get Dr. Stables! I think he's waking up!" 

"What?! Are you certain?!" 

YES!!! I saw his hand moving with my own two eyes, and I checked his health monitors. Everything's stabilizing! He's waking up!" 

"Yes, I'll page Dr. Stables immediately!" 





When word of this got around the hospital, it spread faster than wildfire. Any who were awake and able came to the doors of the Trauma Ward. Others, like Oilcan, Royal, and Inky, waited in their rooms, listening for any new information. When Dr. Stables saw that Nurse Freckles was indeed telling the truth, he actually teleported himself to Canterlot to alert Celestia.

"My Princess!" He said when he saw her.

"What is it Dr. Stables? Is something wrong?" 

"You need to come to the hospital immediately!" 

Celestia prepared herself for the worst. "Has, has Mr. Taylor passed on Doctor Stables?" She looked like she was going to cry. 

The doctor shook his head. "Far from it Princess, he's waking up!" 

"WHAT?!?!" 

That was all it took. An instant later, Celestia had teleported herself and the doctor back to the hospital. After racing inside, the two of them quickly made their way back to the Trauma Ward. 





When they arrived at Taylor's room, they found James, as well as Nurse Freckles inside. A few other medical staff, including Nurse Starlight, waited outside. They both went inside the room, and stood by Taylor's bed. 

James looked up at the doctor. "Um, Dr. Stables, what do we say when Taylor wakes up?" 

The doctor thought long and hard about that. Finally, he said, "To be perfectly honest Mr. James, I actually do not know. Since he is blind, at least for the time being, there's very little that we can tell him, aside from the truth. However, I do think that you should be the one talking to him, so as to reassure him." 

James nodded, and moments later, there seemed to come a faint groaning sound from Taylor. 

James then took Taylor's hand gently into his own. "T-Taylor, c-can you hear me?" He asked softly.

"Mmmmmm.........hmmmmmm." Came the faint reply. 

"Do, do you know where you are?" 

"Uhhhhhhh...........uhhhhhh." 

"Ok then, Taylor. It's me, Ensign James. I'm right here beside you. Can you feel my hand? Squeeze once if you can." 

Sure enough, a faint squeeze. 

"Ok, well then, listen to me very carefully. Right now, you're in the hospital. You've been in a coma for nearly 4 days. Your injuries are very severe. You've been burned, one of your arms is broken, and you have other injuries as well. Do you understand?" 

"Yyyyesssss. I-I d-do." Came the weak reply. 

"You need to lie very still Mr. Taylor." Dr. Stables warned. "Your condition is still very critical. You've pulled through so far, but you're not out of the woods yet." 

"s-s-so, sssssoooo c-c-cold." Taylor murmured. S-so c-cold, a-and......d-d-dark. W-why....? Wh-why s-so d-dark?" 

Those in the room looked at each other. They all knew that Taylor was about to catch on that he was blind. How were they going to tell him? Most importantly though, how was he going to react? In those final moments before Taylor began to fully regain consciousness again, none of them could say a word. They were all dreading. Dreading the fact that Taylor, a survivor, may not be able to handle the truth of what happened to him. It all weighed heavily upon all of them, as they continued to wait.